Survive Said The Prophet at The Key Club, Leeds

The Key Club in Leeds is well known for being the home of Slam Dunk, an alternative club night-turned-festival that delights UK gig goers every year, and has more recently supported heavy Japanese acts such as Crossfaith and coldrain. So it came as no surprise that Survive Said The Prophet appeared to feel right at home.

Kicking off with the heavy riffs of T R A N S l a t e d, they immediately had the crowd’s attention and set a tone for the evening, with bassist Yudai bursting to the front of the stage to deliver his growled backing vocals. Moving without hesitation into Fool’s gold, it became clear to those in the know the band intended to cover their history so far.

Hi | Lo showed the way to a portion of calm and more ‘dance-friendly’ tracks while retaining a more upbeat and heavy edge, whereas Right and Left and Conscious quickly brought a more bouncy atmosphere to the small room. All of the above afforded guitarist Tatsuya an opportunity to deliver some well-deserved lead riffs and poses. Meanwhile, his fellow guitarist Ivan, slightly hidden on the small stage, was clearly giving it his all, dreadlocks flying in and out of the stage's spotlights.

By this point in earlier Survive Said The Prophet shows, vocalist Yosh would have used a number of MCs to connect with the audience, but tonight, the band chose to make the most of their time, instead jumping straight from song to song, only giving an occasional thanks. After a short musical interlude came a beautiful rendition of Listening, in which Yosh effortlessly filled in guest singer Tielle's vocals. It once again showed that this chance to introduce new fans to the band's various sides had been carefully considered.

One last blast of heaviness with Network System had the audience jumping. Then they gracefully calmed the set and ended with When I, which saw virtually everyone in the room waving their arms in time with Show’s impeccable drumming.

Despite being full of top notch tracks, conspicuous by their absence to fans were Red and Mukanjyo, two recent digital releases that are excellent appetisers for their upcoming album Inside Your Head. Hopefully this is a sign of a headline tour coming soon specifically to promote their new material.

Set List

01. T R A N S l a t e d
02. Fool’s gold
03. HI | LO
04. I don’t care
05. Right and Left
06. Conscious
~ [ ] ~
07. Listening
08. NE:ONE
09. Network System
~ When I SE~
10. When I

Inside Your Head will be released on January 15th. More details on the release are available here.